


Cocktober 19: Dangerous AKA 5 Times Hop Found Billy Doing Something 'Dangerous' (and One Time He Sorta Encouraged It...)

by Glitter_Bug



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: (hinted at), Angst, Blood, Child Abuse, Hurt/Comfort, I promise, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, M/M, Period-Typical Homophobia, Swearing, Violence, fluffy at the end, more info in the notes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:14:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27110275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glitter_Bug/pseuds/Glitter_Bug
Summary: Wherever Billy goes, danger (and Hopper) seems to follow.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove & Jim "Chief" Hopper, Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Comments: 14
Kudos: 172
Collections: Cocktober Prompt Meme





	Cocktober 19: Dangerous AKA 5 Times Hop Found Billy Doing Something 'Dangerous' (and One Time He Sorta Encouraged It...)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Little Red Corvette](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25713475) by [HeckinaHandbasket](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeckinaHandbasket/pseuds/HeckinaHandbasket). 



> Some dubious/underage content- nothing graphic. See end notes for more details.
> 
> As I was writing this, I realised that there's a scene which owes quite a bit to HeckinaHandbasket's [Little Red Corvette](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25713475)  
> So if you like the idea of Hopper noticing Billy and the shit hand he's been dealt, please give it a read!

Billy first runs into the police chief about a week after arriving in Hawkins. He’s surprised it took that long.

It’s the middle of the night, and Billy’s racing down a back road, somewhere out of the way, one of the long stretches with nothing but trees and darkness on either side. 

He needs the speed. Needs the noise. Needs something to concentrate on other than the throbbing in his ribs.

He just grins when he sees the flash of red and blue in the rearview mirror. Contemplates taking the cop on a merry chase around. Maybe next time, when he knows the roads a bit better, when he knows the shortcuts and farm tracks and the ways to shake ‘em off.

Still, he doesn’t want to roll over too quickly, so he drags it out for a few miles before he finally pulls into the side. Can always say he was looking for somewhere safe. Not on a bend, not on a hill. Can’t argue with _safe_. 

The cop raps his knuckles on Billy’s windscreen, leans in just that bit too close. Billy can practically taste the coffee on his breath

"You know why I pulled you over?" he trots out the line with a bored expression and Billy gives him a sheepish grin, pulls his best ‘oh gee' face, "Is it that pesky taillight again officer? I coulda sworn I got it fixed."

The cop rolls his eyes and flicks his fingers, “License,” 

Billy hands it over with a smile, gets a look at the cop’s badge. Hopper. _Ha!_ Billy’s head is immediately filled with images of some dumb cartoon rabbit, some grey and white thing with a big fat gut. _Fitting._

Hopper hands Billy’s license back and gives him a once over. Billy keeps his right side turned away, knows his eye looks bad, doesn’t need the suspicion. 

"California?" Hopper asks, resting his arm on Billy’s window, getting a little too comfortable.

"Born and bred,” Billy forces another smile, but Hopper’s face is stern.

"You were going thirty over the limit, Billy, weaving all over the place. Damn dangerous driving son, we don't do that kinda thing here." He shakes his head,

"Sorry chief,” Billy tries for contrite, practically bats his eyelashes “It's these damn twisty Midwestern roads. Got me all shook up."

Hopper gives him a look, “They don't have speed limits in Cali?”

“They're more… advisory.” 

Hopper stifles a laugh at that, hiding it with a rub at his moustache and a cough, but Billy can tell. 

Billy thinks he might just be getting away with it tonight. 

Knows he is when Hopper stands up and taps the roof of the car.

“Consider this a warning,” he says, “drive safe, kid.”

Billy’s roaring off before Hopper’s even made it back to his car.

The second time the cop finds him, it's a few weeks later. Billy’s got no idea how he does it, how he finds him in the middle of the night, parked up with the lights off down some dead-end, off-road farm track.

But he does. 

Billy jumps when he hears the rap on knuckles on his window, flinching harder than he meant to at the sudden glare of a flashlight in his face. He doesn’t have time to hide the bruising this time, not that there’s a shadow big enough to cover up Neil’s handiwork today. 

“Kid?” Hopper’s voice is muffled outside the window, and Billy contemplates just driving off, just backing up outta there and taking his chances. “Billy?” Hopper calls again and Billy sighs, winding down the window. “You sleeping in there?” Hopper asks, his flashlight revealing the balled up jacket that Billy had been using as a pillow, “It’s not safe. There’s some dangerous things in the forest.”

Billy just laughs, “You mighta gone soft in your old age, chief, but I’m pretty sure I can take on a squirrel.” 

“Yeah? How about a wolf? Or a bear?” Hopper’s face is serious, “Think you could handle a bear?”

And it’s out before Billy can resist, “I’ve handled a few before, officer,” the split on his lip reopening as he smirks, looking Hopper up and down with sultry eyes, “Gave them a pretty good time.”

“Jesus, kid,” Hopper jerks back from the car like he’s been hit, “Don’t _do_ that. Not here.” 

He flicks the flashlight back up to Billy’s face and pauses. Billy can see the moment it registers, can see the shock and the goddamn pity flitting over Hop’s face as he takes in the swelling around Billy’s eye, the ring of bruises on his neck, the dried blood on his chin. 

“Billy,” and Hop’s tone is soft, gentle, like he _cares_. Billy can’t deal with it.

“Save your pity for the other guy, Hop,” he spits, but he can see the moment that Hopper’s eyes dart to Billy’s hands, noticing his unblemished knuckles. He tucks them under his thighs a second too late.

"Look,” Hopper tries again, the same softness as before, “I've got a place-” and he must know how it sounds, must see the slight look of fear crossing Billy’s face, because he’s quick to follow it up, “Not like that. A spare sofa, just for tonight. Or you can stay in the car, I don't care, just not here, OK?”

And what can Billy say to that? 

He follows Hop to the cabin. Parks up next to the Blazer and makes sure that Hop hears him locking the doors. He’s not getting out, even to piss.

Billy watches Hopper shrug and go into the cabin. Watches his silhouette through the curtains as he moves around inside, before the door is opening again and Hop’s approaching the Camaro with a bundle in his arms. He motions for Billy to open the window, and passes the bundle of pillows and blankets through. 

“I can’t leave the door unlocked kid, but knock on the window if you need anything.” And then he’s gone. 

Billy drives away before the sun’s even up.

Leaves the blankets on the porch. 

The third time Hopper finds him, it’s on the outskirts of town, behind the bar that most people pretend doesn’t exist. The one you have to _know_ about to know about.  
There's always a place like that, Billy's learnt, if you know who to ask, where to look, don’t mind risking a punch for saying the wrong thing to the wrong person.

It’s always tucked away from the nice neighbourhoods, always down some dodgy, dark backstreet. There's always a dingy alleyway next to it. And it's there that Hopper finds him, on his knees- the guy above him running off as soon as he heard Hopper's shout- and Billy’s resigned to staying there, to having another cock shoved down his throat tonight, because he figures there's gotta be a reason Hopper’s lurking around these parts after all. Thinks it might not even be that bad. The guy works hard, no chick on the scene, he'll probably spill the moment Billy's lips touch him.  
Hopper just strides up to him, places a hand on his shoulder. Heavy and firm. 

Billy chances it. Leans his head forward to nose at Hopper’s crotch.

Hopper shoves him back, hard.  
And Billy wonders just how much trouble he's in. Wonders if he's gonna be waking up in hospital, if he wakes up at all. 

Because there's no denying what he's done. He's just been found with some strangers cock in his mouth, come dribbling down his chin. He’d just tried to do the same thing to Hopper. Honestly, being beaten or shot and left to die in the gutter would not come as a shock. Hell, Hopper’ll probably get some kind of commendation for keeping the streets clean. Billy knows that Neil would be the first one to shake his hand.

And Billy finds that, to his surprise, he doesn't want to die. He's terrified. He keeps his head lowered down,

"Please, sir, please," and Billy is shaking, trembling all over, "I'm sorry,"

And the hand on his shoulder is gentler now, pulling him up instead of pushing him further down into the dirt.

"Come on, kid, up you get,"

There's that soft voice again, and Billy doesn't want to look up, can't bear to see the pity in those eyes, the disgust. 

He’s still shaking as Hopper guides him to the car. Sits him in the front. No cuffs, no beating. 

Billy chances a look at Hopper’s face. Needs to know what he's dealing with, needs to prepare. 

But Hopper’s not upset, not angry or sickened or anything that Billy had imagined.

He just looks tired. Sad.

"Billy, you shouldn’t be doing this,” Hop says quietly. 

"I know, I know Hop. It's wrong, I'm sick, twisted in the head-"

But Hopper stops him, that warm hand on his shoulder again, "No, that's not what I mean. I don't care about that sorta thing. Don't understand it, don't want to. Don't care who...how you… get your kicks."

It sounds wrong, being said like that, and Hopper seems just as uncomfortable saying it as Billy is hearing it. He coughs and carries on with his spiel, his voice serious.

"But you're seventeen Billy, you're a kid. This is dangerous, don't you get it? Don't you listen to the news?"

And Billy wants to scream at him, wants to tell Hop that of fucking course he knows that. But what other choice does he have? There's no safe option. Not here, not in fucking Indiana.

But he doesn't. He just nods, lets his head slump onto the seat, overcome with exhaustion. Feels the adrenaline flooding out of him, now he knows he's not going to die.

“Should I take you home, Billy?” 

Billy notices how Hopper phrases it. How he asks rather than assumes. And Billy’s so thankful, so relieved, that he can feel his eyes watering.

He shakes his head, presses his lips together to stop the sobs from breaking out. Hopper gives Billy’s shoulder one last squeeze before he drives them both back to his cabin.

Billy sleeps on the sofa this time.   
  
  


The fourth time Hopper finds him, Billy has finally experienced exactly what lurks in the Hawkins' woods. Finally learnt about the things weirder than squirrels and bears combined.

It'd been a few months ago, and he'd only wanted to find Max, had tracked her down to some creepy house and then fully intended to fight whoever was gonna stop him from dragging her out, even if it was the King of Hawkins himself.

But instead Steve had just taken a deep breath and said, "you wouldn't believe me if I told you, just... just come look." 

And Billy did. Opened that damn fridge and changed his life. 

Because he learnt about the dogs. Learnt about what lurks in Hawkins. The monsters. 

And so he helped Steve to fight them. 

And that's what they're doing now, Billy and Steve, hunting them down and taking them out; Billy with an axe in his hands and Steve swinging that nail bat around like he's training for the damn World Series. It's been a long night, and they've been doing well, but they're both starting to flag, ready to wrap things up. Steve running off ahead, hot on the heels of what he hoped was the last dog, only to crash straight into a whole pack of the fuckers. Billy just catching up in time to see Steve twirling the bat around, his eyes fixed ahead, too focused on the three dogs in front of him to notice the one creeping out from the darkness behind him.

Billy yells out, but it's too late, and he watches in horror as the lurking dog launches itself forward, its petal mouth opening as it knocks into Steve. And Billy's running; leaping over the other dogs, kicking them out of the way and slashing at them with the axe until he can get to Steve, ignoring the petals snapping at his heels as he throws himself forward, ripping the dog away from Steve and swinging his axe at it, hard. He feels bones giving way under the blade, hears the thing let out some godawful howl, and he wrenches the axe out and hits down again, and again, and again, until he feels Steve's hands over his, 

"That's it Bill, come on, it's dead, you got it. You got ‘em." 

Billy looks over at Steve, lets the axe drop from his hands and pulls Steve to him, checks him all over. 

"Fuck's sake Harrington, you can't...you nearly died."

"Yeah? I'm not the one who went diving headfirst into a dog. Shit, Bill." They're both trembling, hands still clasped together.

And then there’s a shot. Billy turns round to see Hopper brandishing a shotgun, before he’s striding up towards them. Billy drops Steve’s hand like it’s burnt him, stepping away to put some space between them. 

“What the hell are you playing at?” Hopper yells, and Billy flinches instinctively,hands flying up to protect his head. Hopper grabs at his shoulder, gives it a rough shake, “It’s dangerous out here, you’re gonna get killed.”

Hopper notices Billy’s sudden stillness, the way his eyes are tracking even the slightest movement that Hopper makes, and he lets go quickly.

“Shit, sorry kid,” he says, “But you gotta be careful, charging around out here,” Hopper looks over at the Demodog corpses littering the floor. “Huh,” he says, surprised, “Guess you had a decent handle on things.”

Hopper takes the boys back to his cabin, insists on getting them patching themselves up properly before he lets them back out into the night. 

“I’ll go clean up the mess you made,” he grumbles, “Get rid of the evidence before we get too much attention.” He throws a first aid kit at Steve, who catches it with a fumble,

“Don’t leave until I get back. Fix yourselves up.”

And so they do, Billy tenderly brushing a strand of Steve's hair from his face as he mops up the worst of the blood,

"You fucking idiot," Billy leans in close, touches his forehead to Steve’s, "Nearly got yourself...fuck Steve don't do that to me."

And Steve cups Billy’s face, just as gently, mindful of the bruises put there by the one thing that scares them both more than a Demodog.

“Could say the same to you, jumping in like that. I’ve told you before about playing hero, baby.”

“Don’t be such a damsel then,” Billy mutters against Steve’s lips.

Neither of them see Hopper standing in the doorway. Neither of them see him slip away again.

The fifth time Hopper finds Billy, it’s on an emergency call out.

He’s already on the road, out on a regular traffic patrol, when the radio buzzes and a static-y voice fills the car.  
“Disturbance at Cherry Lane, Hargrove place. Wife says the boy’s gone crazy, Dangerous. Attacked his dad.”

“I’m on it,” Hop punches the switch for the siren, turns the car around in the middle of the road.

He gets there in minutes, but it’s still been long enough for Hop to have driven himself mad with thoughts of what he might find. Images of Billy’s face swim in his mind, the bruises and bleeding, the swellings. He’s got a damn good idea of what’s actually gone down tonight, and he’s going to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

It’s as he expected when he walks through the door. Neil Hargrove has Billy up against the wall, one hand holding him by the neck, the other drawn back in a fist.

“Hey!” Hopper charges over, shoving Neil entirely off of Billy and landing a punch straight on his face, relishing the crunch of bone as his fist connects with Neil’s nose, “You leave that boy alone, y’ hear me?” Hopper punches again, makes sure that Neil is down before he goes to check on Billy.

“Kid? Billy? What happened?”

Hopper’s already assessing the damage. It’s bad, probably the worst he’s seen, Billy’s face is swollen, a mess of black and blue and red; there’s a gash across his cheek, probably from a ring; and the way he’s holding himself suggests that Neil’s managed to land a few good hits on Billy’s ribs. 

Hopper notices a slight smear of blood across Billy’s knuckles, feels a little thrill of admiration for the kid.

“Max…” Billy coughs wetly, a splat of blood landing on the floor by Hopper’s shoe, “He got her. Hit her.” Billy coughs again, ends up wheezing. 

“Where is she?” Hopper asks, eyes scanning the room, landing on a closed door just past the kitchen. He pushes it open gently, to find Susan and Max cowering in a bedroom, Max with a bright red mark on her cheek, Susan with tears running down her face.

It’s enough for Hop. He radios in for backup. Gets Neil taken away. Gets the full story from Max. 

It’s all over before the hour is up.

Hopper looks at Billy, still leaning against the wall, an arm wrapped around his side, a faint tremor running through his body.

“Billy?” he asks, using the tone he’s perfected with El, the one that can soothe her after the worst of nightmares, “You have someplace to go tonight?”

Billy nods. 

“You want a lift there? Don’t think you should be driving like this.” 

Billy nods again. That’s when Hop knows he must be feeling bad. 

Billy’s quiet on the drive, nothing but the odd muttered direction. Hopper knows where he’s going anyway, knows the route to Harrington’s house.

“You did good in there, kid, protecting your sister like that. I know it can’t have been easy.”

Billy stays quiet, his jaw twitching.

“Think I saw enough to get your old man put away for a few years at least, and I’m gonna push for more.”

Billy still says nothing, but Hopper can see the way he’s screwing up his eyes, can see his throat bobbing as he swallows.

“Someone shoulda stopped it before, Billy. I’m, uh, I’m sorry that no one did. You didn’t deserve that. Any of it.”

And Billy’s crying now. Silent tears spilling from his eyes. 

Hopper stops the car. Lets him cry. Places a hand on his arm.

Billy leans in to it. 

The last time Hopper sees Billy in Hawkins, he’s sitting in the Camaro with Steve in the passenger seat beside him and two suitcases piled into the back.

“You boys be careful,” Hopper cautions, “It can be a dangerous place.”

Billy rolls his eyes, “I grew up there, Hop. I’ll be fine.”

“Maybe you’ve gone soft in Hawkins?” Steve teases, jabbing a finger into Billy’s stomach. 

“Nothing soft about me baby, you know that,” Billy purrs, and Hopper coughs, reminds them that he’s still there.

“Not yet! Not yet!,” Joyce calls as she runs out of the house, a stack of Tupperware containers in her hands which she passes through the window to Steve, “Promise you’ll call when you get there. And at the motels. Let us know you’re safe, it can be a-”

“Dangerous place, I know,” Steve and Billy chorus. They’ve heard this before. Many times.  
“And you’ve definitely got all the maps?” Hopper goes to stand with Joyce, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

“Got it all up here,” Billy taps his head, but Steve holds up the little stack of maps with a wink at Hop. 

“Keep an eye on the gas,” Hop shouts again as Billy starts up the car, “Stop before you need to.”

“Call us if you need anything, _anything!_ ” Joyce hollers over the revving, and Billy gives her a wave.

“Don’t pick up any hitchhikers!” Hop shouts as the car speeds out of the driveway. 

“Have fun! Be safe! Have fun!” Joyce calls, her voice lost over the noise of the engine.

  
They turn onto the road, and Billy takes one hand off the steering wheel. Holds out one hand to Steve who takes it with a squeeze.

“Whatdya say baby? Ready for some danger?” he smiles.

Steve smiles back, presses his lips to Billy’s knuckles.

“Always.” 

  
  


  
  


**Author's Note:**

> There's a scene where Hop sees seventeen year old Billy giving a guy a blow job in an alley. It's not non-con, but with Billy being underage, it is dubious.  
> Billy also comes on to Hop, out of fear, but Hop instantly rebuffs him.


End file.
